Highlight Reel: Class D Semifinals

March 26, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director 

Morenci and Powers North Central advanced to the MHSAA Class D Boys Basketball Final with Semifinal wins Thursday at the Breslin Center. 

Click below for highlights from all four teams that took the court.  

Morenci 53, Waterford Our Lady 52

Picking Up The Trash - Alex Thomas put Morenci on top to stay with two baskets early in the fourth quarter, including this one on a scramble beneath the basket. 

Lakers Pull Close - Nick Robak gets a layup off a steal for Waterford Our Lady in the closing moments to pull the Lakers to within a point.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Powers North Central 71, Fulton 46 

Jets' Jason Turns On The Jets - Jason Whitens led Powers North Central in scoring against Fulton. Here he motors down the court after a steal for a basket.

Never Say Die Pirate - Here's a great hustle play by Fulton senior Tate Bennett, who chases his own missed shot during the closing seconds into press row.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

PHOTO: Morenci’s Austin Sandusky (12) works to split a pair of Waterford Our Lady defenders during the Bulldogs’ Class D Semifinal win.

Moment: Rouge Runs Title Streak to 5

April 16, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

After setting the Lower Peninsula record the season before, River Rouge completed the streak that remains the standard for boys basketball programs with a fifth-straight MHSAA Finals title in 1965.

The Panthers won Class B for the fifth-consecutive season by downing South Haven 87-65. Rouge led only 54-52 after three quarters, but scored 33 points during the final period to seal the clincher.

The 87 total points also broke a Rouge Class B Final record set the year before (86) and remained the record (tied in 2003 by Grand Rapids South Christian) until Class was replaced by Division for basketball tournament classification in 2019.

Frank Price led with 28 points. Sam Campbell added 16. Rouge finished the season 24-2. (Side note: Price's daughter Franthea led Rouge to its first MHSAA girls basketball title, in 1984.)

Only Crystal Falls (now Forest Park), with six straight championships from 1938-44, has won more consecutive MHSAA titles in boys basketball, and that streak came during a time when separate tournaments were conducted by peninsula. Crystal Falls’ streak skips the 1943 season, when Finals weren’t played because of World War II.